Rainforest World Music Festival receives BrandLaureate Country Branding award

KUCHING: The Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) has been awarded the BrandLaureate Country Branding Award 2012-2013.

The BrandLaureate Country Branding Award is the Grammy Awards for branding and the No. 1 branding awards in the Asia Pacific, which is endorsed by the King.

The award was given in the form of a 24-carat gold trophy.

For the fourth consecutive year, RWMF was also voted as one of the Top 25 Best International Festivals for world music.

The Top 25 Best International Festivals was decided by renowned world music magazine Songlines in the United Kingdom and has elevated RWMF’s status in the international music scene.

“The award and recognition has put Kuching on the world map and appealed to shores further than neighbouring countries. We are proud on the success of RWMF because it shows that we are at the same level as other music festivals held around the world,” Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Datuk Rashid Khan told a press conference yesterday.

This year’s festival will feature 21 bands — 13 international and eight Malaysian bands — playing a diverse range of world music genres.

The festival will continue its unique formula of having informative musical workshops, ethno-musical lectures, jamming session and mini concerts held in the ethnic houses within the Sarawak Cultural Village in the afternoon, followed by evening performances on two main outdoor stages.

More of Sarawak’s local talent will be featured compared to previous years including the rare and dying art of the nose flute.